Category Archives: Tax Planning

Earlier this week, millions of Americans observed, open-mouthed, as the slow-motion trainwreck known as The Bachelor finale skidded across their televisions. Race car driver Arie Luyendyk chose Becca to be his wife. Then, after what appeared to be weeks of engaged bliss, he dragged the poor woman back into the spotlight to dump her like last week’s leftover fish, then proposed to runner-up Lauren B. Read more…

In 2009 the IRS launched the Registered Tax Return Preparer program which was based on an obscure 1884 law regulating representatives of civil war soldiers looking for compensation for their dead horses. Everybody was happy with the RTRP — except the Preparers (and maybe the long-dead horses).

They say, “What goes up, must come down,” and if you’ve owned bitcoin lately, you’d probably agree. But one thing that saying definitely doesn’t apply to is College costs. Back in ’97, College tuition cost around $16,000 and now the average cost is around $42,000 — and Colleges are beginning to turn to alternate funding sources. Read more…

Last week, we walked you through a step-by-step system for using the new tax law to generate tax-planning engagements from your existing client base. And we promised that this week, we’d do the same for new clients.

Welcome to 2018! This year we’ve got a lot more going on than usual, so let’s get right to it.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Learn it. Live it. Love it. This is, literally, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make planning the centerpiece of your business and your value to your clients. You can jump on it. Or you can let it slip through your fingers.Read more…

We’ve all got an image in our minds of who uses offshore tax havens to host their business — but most are not the crooked billionaires we have in mind. In fact, Paul David Hewson, dubbed “Bono” for his good voice, was linked to some fraudulent tax avoidance through sharing ownership of an offshore company — but there are two sides to every story. Read more…

Stranger Things is chock full of nostalgic ’80s references and naturally, has me nostalgic for 1980s taxes. From writing off 100% of the cost of a business lunch to people fraudulently claiming tax deductions on nonexistent children — taxes were a lot different in the 80s! Read more…

When Amazon was deciding where to place their new headquarters, municipalities all over the U.S. sent in their bids in an attempt to have it placed in their town, in turn boosting their economy. Even though you may not have the same amount of muscle to flex (as a Municipality) to negotiate your own tax rate, you still can use the tax code to your benefit. Read more…

Rich art collectors donate art to avoid tax on capital gains and receive major tax deductions from their private collections. Even though your art collection at home may be small, you can still take advantage of the same tax planning strategies that major collectors use. Read more…